Guiding means for heated press platen



Jan. 15, 1952 R. KSEDGWICK GUIDING MEANS FOR HEATED PRESS PLATEN FiledApril 25, 1946 INVENTOR. ROBERT K. SEDGWIGK A TORNEY Patentecl Jan. 15,1952 GUIDING MEANS FOR HEATED PRESS PLATEN Robert K. Sedgwick, Chicago,Ill., assignor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, 111., a corporationof New Jersey Application April 25, 1945, Serial No. 664,955

8 Claims.

pension or contraction as might take place in the moving platen underworking conditions.

A more specific object of my invention is to devise a hot working resshaving a platen support or housing, a platen confined therein, andinterengaging guide means on the platen and the housing or support soconstructed and arranged as to accommodate expansion and contraction ofsaid platen under operating conditions while maintaining the die face ofthe platen accurately positioned with respect to a mating die or mold.

A further specific object of my invention is to design a hot Workingpress wherein spaced supports may confine therebetween a movable die orplaten, said supports having adjustable gibs or guides for confinementof said platen under conditions which will accurately position the dieface on said platen irrespective of expansion and contraction of saidplaten under changing temperature conditions during operation. Myinvention contemplates an arrangement such as that described wherein theengaging guide surfaces on the platen supports and on the platen 5itself are formed in planes radial with respect to the center of the ramor moving platen, a construction which will admit of expansion andcontraction of the moving ram while maintaining its die face accuratelypositioned with respect to a mating die or mold.

With the increased demand. for extremely accurate guiding or moldingpres slides, ordinary adjustments are not satisfactory for more than asmall range of temperature with ordinary gib guides such as heretoforehave been known in slide presses. Gib guides have heretofore been usedbut have not been satisfactory under extreme conditions. The ordinarytype of press utilizes an open rod construction with the bronze bushingsin the slide for engagement with the rods. When such rod guides areused, the usual solution to this problem is to make the bushingsrelatively loose when the press is cold so that they will fit reasonablywell when the press is hot. In

any event, however, such an adjustment is only a compromise and undermost conditions of operation the bushings will bear on very limitedsurfaces of the rods, sometimes in almost a line contact.

It is well understood, of course, that some sort of guide means must beused where a movable die or press is utilized in forging a product or informing a plastic member. As far as I am aware, my invention is thefirst satisfactory solution of the above-described problem. When amovable platen is constructed and arranged in accordance with myinvention, a satisfactory adjustment may be made before the press is putin operation and while the parts are cold, and this adjustment willremain entirely satisfactory throughout the temperature range of itsoperation.

In the drawing, Figure 1 illustrates a portion of a molding pressincorporating my invention, the view being taken as a horizontal sectionthrough the housing and slide, one half of the slide being shown in topplan view.

Describing the structure in detail, the press housing comprises theupright members 2, 2 at opposite sides thereof, each of said memberscomprising a vertical leg 4 at each edge thereof, each of said legsbeing illustrated as of box sec tion and said legs being joined byhorizontal reinforcing members 6, 6, leaving therebetween What may bedefined as a window opening 8. On coplanar faces of opposite legs may beformed fiat surfaces as at I 0, l0 afi'ording convenient areas formounting gibs or guides I2, I 2, which may suitably position the slideor platen is confined therebetween, said platen having the side walls 13and IS, the end wall ll, the longitudinal ribs l9 and 2|, and thetransverse web 23. In the arrangement at the left of Figure l, I haveshown the gibs l2, l2 mounted at the remote edges of the legs l, 4 andsecured thereto as by machine bolts [6, It, the bolt on the inboard faceof each leg 4 being afiorded some clearance as noticeable at I 8 inorder to afford satisfactory lateral adjustment of the gib l2.

Each gib 12 has guiding engagement as at 28 along a plane surface with asimilar surface adjacent one corner of the platen or die It, each guideface being defined by a vertical plane and the faces at the alternateopposite edges of the platen lying in a single plane. The two planesthus defined intersect in a line at the center of the platen at 22.

The gibs 12 at the left of the figure area-rranged to engage guide faceson the remote surfaces of the platen at one end thereof. In thearrangement at the right of the figure I have shown the guides or gibsl2, l2 similarly adjustably mounted and so positioned as to engageadjacent surfaces 24, 24 formed on the projecting legs 26 at each cornerof the platen. Although the arrangements shown at the right and leftwill both operate satisfactorily and are within the scope of myinvention, that shown at the right is preferred under conditions inwhich substantial lateral thrust may occur. This is because any suchlateral thrust will be transferred into the vertical housing members 4,4 in large measure without placing heavy stresses on the threaded studsor machine bolts 28, 28 which act as securing means therefor. It alsopossesses the advantage that the securing bolts for the gibs may bepositioned inboard the housing on the adjacent faces of the uprightmembers 4, 4, thus leaving the exposed faces of the machine clean andunobstructed and presenting less safety hazard.

It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that theangular arrangement of the guide faces on the gibs and the abuttingfaces on the slide will depend upon the dimensions of the slide itself.If a cross section of the slide or die is substantially a square, theangles would be approximately 45 if the guides were placed at thecorners. Other ratios of width to depth would require angles to bevaried accordingly but in each case a substantially satisfactoryoperating guide surface will be provided if the surfaces are defined bytwo vertical planes intersecting a line approximately at the center ofthe platen. By the arrangement I have shown, the guiding gibs may beadjusted when the machine is cold and they will remain in adjustmentthroughout the working period. The principle involved here is that byarranging the gib or guide surface radially with respect to the centerof the ram or die, the average expansion will be along radial lines andconsequently the guiding surfaces will slide across the gib faces withno change in the clearance regardless of expansion and contraction.Although I have illustrated my invention as applied to a vertical press,it is readily applicable to a horizontal press. Likewise, although Ihave shown the guide surfaces adjacent the respective corners of thedie, it will be readily understood that such guide surfaces might beremote from the corners thereof provided they are constructed andarranged as herein specified.

It will be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exactembodiment of the device shown which is merely by way of illustrationand not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, ofcourse, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement along said members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of guide faceson each of said members in complementary fiat face engagement with apair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engaging surfaces andfaces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in a line centrallyof said platen,

whereby expansion and contraction of said platenresulting from changesof temperature takes place substantially along said planes defining saidfaces and surfaces.

2. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement along said members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of gibs on eachof said members and having faces in complementary fiat face engagementwith a pair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engagingsurfaces and faces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in aline centrally of said platen, whereby expansion and contraction of saidplaten resulting from changes of temperature takes place substantiallyalong said planes defining said faces and surfaces.

3. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen be tween said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement along said members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of gibs on eachof said members and having faces in complementary flat face engagementwith a pair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engagingsurfaces and faces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in aline centrally of said platen, whereby expansion and contraction of saidplaten resulting from changes of temperature takes place substantiallyalong said planes defining said faces and surfaces, and means to varythe spacing between each pair of gibs.

4. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement along said members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of guide faceson each of said members in complementary flat face engagement with apair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engaging surfaces andfaces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in a line centrallyof said platen, whereby expansion and contraction of said platenresulting from changes of temperature takes place substantially alongsaid planes defining said faces and surfaces, a pair of said guide facesbeing disposed between a pair of said guide engaging surfaces.

5. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement along said members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of guide faceson each of said members in complementary flat face engagement with apair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engaging surfaces andfaces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in a line centrallyof said platen, whereby expansion and contraction of said platenresulting from changes of temperature takes place substantially alongsaid planes defining said faces and surfaces, a pair of said guideengaging sur faces being disposed between a pair of said guide faces.

6. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement alongsaid members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of gibs on eachof said members and having faces in complementary fiat face engagementwith a pair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engagingsurfaces and faces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in aline centrally of said platen, whereby expansion and contraction of saidp1aten resulting from changes of temperature takes place substantiallyalong said planes defining said faces and surfaces, each pair of gibsbeing disposed between its related pair of guide engaging surfaces.

7. In a press, a housing including spaced members defining a platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative movement along aid members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end of the platen, and a pair of gibs on eachof said members and having faces in complementary fiat face engagementwith a pair of said guide engaging surfaces, said guide engagingsurfaces and faces being disposed in diagonal planes intersecting in aline centrally of said platen, whereby expansion and contraction of saidplaten resulting from changes of temperature takes place substantiallyalong said planes defining said faces and surfaces, each pair of guideengaging surfaces being disposed between its related pair of gibs.

8. In a press, a housing including spaced members definingJa platenopening, a platen between said members, means to guide said platen forreciprocative novement along said members, consisting of a pair of guideengaging surfaces on each end ofthe platen, and a pair of guide faces oneach of said members in engagement with a pair of said guide engagingsurfaces, said guide engaging surfaces and guide faces being disposed inabutting engagement along diagonal planes intersecting in a linecentrally of said platen whereby expansion and contraction of saidplaten resulting from changes of temperature takes place substantiallyalong said planes whereby no adjustment of said guide means is requiredto compensate for said expansion and contraction.

ROBERT K. SEDGWICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,653,630 Zeh Dec. 20, 19272,336,35 Flowers Dec. 7, 1943 2,356,641 Wolfie Aug. 22, 1944 2,491,384MacMillin Dec. 13, 1949

